The design of sulkies has evolved from wooden frames to metal frames which reflect the most advanced technology of the aircraft frame industry to provide reduced weight and increased strength. The strength of a sulky frame is particularly critical because fractured parts, whether of metal or wood, can be lethal to both the horses and drivers as the fractured spars become spears. Also, because a sulky strapped to the flanks of a strong animal must absorb and comply with a spectrum of muscular and running motions as well as the jarring movements of wheels carrying the weight of a man on a dirt track, there are a myriad of interacting forces and motions in the frame which can lead to complications ranging from discomfort and fatigue to the horse, to resonances, stresses and fracturing fatigues throughout the sulky.
Accordingly, the present invention has for its object to provide an improved metal sulky design which can be light in weight and highly resistant to metal fatigue while, at the same time, affording a coupling between the horse and the loaded wheels which is sufficiently compliant to reduce the interchange of shock energy between the animal and the frame without otherwise interfering with the alignment and free-running ability of the vehicle.